Automotive vehicle door control



Feb. 24, 1953 B, J, CRAIG 2,629,453

AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE DOOR CONTROL Filed July 29, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Feb. 24, 1953 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLEDO'OR CONTROL Burnie J (Craig,- Los Angeles County, Calif. ApplicationJuly 29, 1949, Serial No. 107,437 4 Claims. (01. 180-82) Thl invention relates to door latching and control mechanism and isparticularly, although not exclusively; adapted for use with the doors of automotive vehicles, and a general object is to provide aconstruction which includes cooperating parts mounted on the door and/or frame, and/ordoer supporting -means, and arranged so that a maximum of safety maybe securedin door operation.

A more-specific object of the invention is to provide a door construction for an automotive vehicle including a check member which permits thedoor to be opened readily after the latch bolt is released but 'which can be conditioned to offer resistance to dooropening.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel'automotive vehicle door control means wherein avehicle speed innuencedmember'allows easy movement of the door-bolt to door releasing position after the-bolt is released but which, when the vehicle is operating above a predetermined speed," requires exertion or considerable forcein order to move the bolt to door releasing position;

In aconstruction of the character described and claimed'herein, the-bolt-releasemember may be of such character thata-very light pressure, such as can be exerted by a finger tip, may be employed to release the bolt since after the release ofthe bolt while the vehicle is running above a certain speed the door maybe opened onlyby the application of a-heavy force upon the door. Should, however, the vehicle speed'bebelow the certain rate the door can be readily opened.

As a-res-ult of the described construction; likelihood of children or thoughtless persons opening the door; whileit is dangerous to do so, is-avoided, while the objection 'of riders'who refuseto ride in a vehicle with lockeddoorsis overcome.

An additional object of'the invention is to provide a novel speed controlled door bolt check member.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will beapparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings; wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation showing an automotive vehicle with theinventionapplied thereto;

Fig. 2*is' asection taken on line -2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectiontaken on line 3-3; Fig; 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2

Fig 5. is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the parts in another position; and

Fig. dis a wiring diagram.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters, the invention i shown as embodied in a construction which includes the vehicle l0, .having doors II arranged thereon. The doors are adapted to be held in closed position by, latch members [2 and companion strike members .l3.

As shown, the latches l2i are similar to the latches disclosed in the applicants copending patent application SerialNo. 103, i31,.filed.July 7, 1949. Each latch includesa belt which. is pivoted at E5 to a suitablesupport. and thebolt is held inengagedposition by a catch member I 6. The bolt includes an end member, shown as a roller it, which moves. in a slot it in the strike 53 as shown-in Fig. 4. As'described in the aforesaid application, two or more latches .may .be coincidentally locked. by a lockingmember IS. The lockingmember I9 is also similartothe locking member disclosed in the applicants prior Patent 2,204,208, granted June 11, 1940, and permits locking andunlocking with or without the use of a key.

The latch in the present disclosure includes a handle 2a with apush button 2| whichzoperates to move areleasing arm-22 The push button is of the type disclosed in. application .Serial No. 103,431 and Patent 2,204,208, mentioned above. As stated above,anobject ofthis inventionis to prevent accidental orthoughtless door opening when it is dangerous and to provide assurance to-those whoobiect toridingin a vehicle the latches ofwhich are positively locked.

To accomplish the purposes' mentioned, the applicant provides on the strike IS a check mem ber '23, which is shown as pivoted at 2 3 to the strike casing; The check member projects through a slotztin awall defining the slot 18 in the strike and the checkmember includes an inclined cam face 26 and a more sharply inclined second cam face 21. A sp'ringit normally-urges the check member to the full line position shown in Fig. 4

When the door is closed-the roller 11 moves along the slot lt-and; striking thecamsurface 26, depresses the member 23until-the bolt moves to its door holding position During this movement the check member moves to the broken line position shown inFig. 4 andthen moves back to-full line position after the roller has passed the cam surface 26;

The latch may bereleased bythe outside push button 2'l'or by operatingan inside remote control member, as shown in application-serial No.

103,431 aforesaii to cause arod 29 to release thelatch. When the latch is so released and as the door opens, the bolt roller |1 will move down the slot I8 and will strike the cam surface 21 and will rock the check member 23 about its pivot 24 to the broken line position shown in Fig. 4.

Thus it will be seen that the act of releasing a latch and opening a door will cause the check 23 to be rocked.

To oppose free rocking of the check and consequently prevent easy opening of the door when door opening conditions are not safe, a safety control is provided. As shown this safety control includes a stifi spring 30 mounted at 3| upon the strike. The spring includes an end portion 32 which is disposed adjacent to, but spaced from, a tongue 33 upon the check 23. Between the spring portion 32 and the tongue 33 the head 34 on a solenoid armature or plunger 35 is disposed. The solenoid plunger is actuated by its solenoid 36 with a spring 31 normally urging the head 34 between the parts 32 and 33. As shown, the solenoid 36 is mounted on a base 31' which is pivoted at 38 to the strike. This permits the solenoid and its armature to move slightly as will be presently described.

The free end of the check 23 is provided with a cam surface which, when the check is rocked about its pivot 24, pushes the switch arm 40 of a micro-switch 4| to closed position.

The operation of the construction will be apparent by reference to Fig. 6 of the drawing. In the wiring diagram, as shown, one lead 42 from the solenoid is grounded as at 43. The other lead 44 from the solenoid extends through the switch 4| and from the switch 4| another lead 45 is connected to one side 46 of a speed controlled switch member 41 which may be of the character disclosed in Fig. '1 of the applicants prior latch Patent 2,187,933, granted June 23, 1940. The other side of the speed controlled member 41 is connected by a lead 48 with a source of current 49 which latter is grounded as at 50.

In operation, when the vehicle is running, the speed controlled switch 41 will be open so that no current will pass therethrough. The spring 31 will then retain the head 34 between the spring portion 32 and the tongue 33. Should the latch be released under this condition the bolt roller |1 will contact the steep cam 21, thus rocking the check 23 sufficiently to push the head 34 against the spring portion 32. The spring 30 is made sufficiently heavy so that it offers strong resistance to being flexed and thus much force must be used to cause the member I1 to rock the check 23 sufficiently to allow the bolt to pass from the slot l8 and thereby allow the door to be opened. Thus accidental door opening is prevented while emergency door opening is provided for by the described construction.

Now, considering that the vehicle is at rest or that its speed is at below a predetermined rate, depending upon the setting of the speed controlled switch 41, and that the latch release is operated. In this condition the switch 41 will be closed and current will pass to the normally open switch 4|. When now the latch is released and the roller |1 moves the check 23 towards the dotted line position, the first slight movement will cause the cam surface 39 on the check to move the switch arm 40 to closed position. This will complete the circuit through the switch 4| to the solenoid 36, thus energizing the solenoid and causing the latter to retract the head 34 of the solenoid from the normal location from between the spring portion 32 and the check tongue 33 '4 to thereby allow the check 23 to move freely and to offer no resistance of the bolt from the slot I8.

Should the door be closed while the vehicle is still the roller |1 will strike the low pitched face 23 of the check 23, thus closing the circuit and retracting the head 34 so that no opposition is offered by the check. Should the vehicle be moving at a speed above a predetermined rate while the door is being closed, as occasionally happens, the switch 4| would be open and thus the head 34 would not be retracted and in this case the door would have to be slammed although without much force because the cam 26, being of a very low pitch, offers gradual opposition as the roller |1 moves therealong. Contrarily, the cam 21 has a steep pitch and offers much opposition to the movement of the roller.

The applicants Patent 2,210,230, granted August 6, 1940, discloses a vehicle door control construction wherein the wiring arrangement is similar to that disclosed in the present application and the applicants prior Patent 2,450,372, granted September 28, 1948, includes a vehicle speed controlled bolt which is carried by the door and wherein vehicle speed controlled means mounted on the pillar governs release of the bolt. In these patents, however, the structure disclosed differs from that of the present application.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In an automotive vehicle construction, a door movable to open and closed positions, a bolt on the door, a strike, means to pivotally mount the bolt on the door for movement across the strike to and from engaged position, a check pivotally mounted on the strike, said check having cam faces thereon, one of said cam faces being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to engaged position, the other cam face being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to disengaged position, spring means carried by said strike and spaced from said check, movably mounted bumper means interposed between said check and spring, and means normally holding the bumper means between the check and spring while the vehicle speed is greater than a certain predetermined rate.

2. In an automotive vehicle construction, a door movable to open and closed positions, a bolt on the door, a strike, means to pivotally mount the bolt on the door for movement across the strike to and from engaged position, a check piv otally mounted on the strike, said check having cam faces thereon, one of said cam faces being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to engaged position, the other cam face being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to disengaged position, spring means carried by said strike and spaced from said check, movably mounted bumper means interposed between said check and spring, means normally holding the bumper means between the check and spring, and means to cause the bumper means to be withdrawn from between said check and said spring when the latch bolt is released while the vehicle speed is less than a certain predetermined rate.

3. In an automotive vehicle construction, a door movable to open and closed positions, a bolt on the door, a strike, means to movably mount the bolt on a horizontally disposed shaft on the door for movement across the strike to and from engaged position, a check movably mounted on the strike, said check having cam faces thereon, one of said cam faces being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to engaged position, another cam face being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to disengaged position, means normally restraining movement of the check by the bolt as the bolt moves towards disengaged position, and vehicle speed controlled means operable when the vehicle speed is less than a certain rate to reduce the force required to cause the bolt to overcome the restraining means and to move the check to bolt releasing position.

4. In an automotive vehicle construction, a door movable to open and closed positions, a bolt on the door, a strike, means to pivotally mount the bolt on the door for movement across the strike to and from engaged position, a check pivotally mounted on the strike for movement to and frombolt engaging position, said check having cam faces thereon, one of said cam faces being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to engaged position, the other cam face being engageable by the bolt as the latter moves to disengaged position, spring means normally restraining movement of the check to bolt releasing position when the vehicle speed is above a certain rate, and vehicle'ispeed controlled means to reduce the effect of the movement restraining means while the vehicle speed is less than a certain predetermined rate.

BURNIE J CRAIG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

